Cognitive Vulnerability to Emotional Symptoms: Reconsidering the Role of Worry and Rumination

The present study explored the pathways whereby cognitive variables (worry, rumination) may explain the relation between neuroticism and emotional symptoms in a community sample of adults (N?=?499). All participants completed a battery of questionnaires including measures of neuroticism, worry, rumination, anxiety and depression. Multiple mediation and moderated mediation analyses were used. Worry was a common pathway explaining the effect of neuroticism on both anxiety and depressive symptoms. The brooding subtype of rumination significantly mediated the relation between neuroticism and anxiety symptoms, but the reflection subtype did not have a mediating effect. Although worry by itself mediated the association between neuroticism and anxiety symptoms, it required a certain level of brooding to exert its mediating effect on the relation between neuroticism and depressive symptoms. The results are discussed in light of previous research and recent developments in treatment. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Complex mediating effects of rumination facets between personality traits and depressive symptoms

This study investigates whether facets of rumination statistically mediate the relationships between Big Five personality traits and depressive symptoms. Self-reported personality traits and rumination were investigated as predictors of depressive symptoms in a cross-sectional sample of 3043 participants aged 18–60 years (68.8% female). Multiple regression analysis investigated which personality traits and rumination facets best explained variance in depressive symptoms. Structural equation modelling was used to determine whether facets of rumination mediated the relationships between personality traits and depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analysis found that variance in depressive symptoms was best explained by the personality traits neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness; and both facets of rumination, brooding and reflection. Structural equation modelling added that the effects of neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness and openness on depressive symptoms were statistically mediated by brooding; the effects of neuroticism, extroversion and openness to depressive symptoms were statistically mediated by reflection. Rumination facets statistically mediated the effects of various personality traits on depressive symptoms. These results provide insights into which individuals may be best suited to treatments for depression targeting rumination.     

The Role of Repetitive Negative Thoughts in the Vulnerability for Emotional Problems in Non-Clinical Children

The current study examined the role of repetitive negative thoughts in the vulnerability for emotional problems in non-clinical children aged 8–13 years (N = 158). Children completed self-report questionnaires for assessing (1) neuroticism and behavioral inhibition as indicators of general vulnerability (2) worry and rumination which are two important manifestations of repetitive negative thoughts, and (3) emotional problems (i.e., anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties). Results demonstrated that there were positive correlations between measures of general vulnerability, repetitive negative thoughts, and emotional problems. Further, support was found for a model in which worry and rumination acted as partial mediators in the relation between neuroticism and symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the case of sleep difficulties, no evidence was obtained for such a mediation model. In fact, data suggested that sleeping difficulties are better conceived as an epiphenomenon of high symptom levels of anxiety and depression or as a risk factor for the development of other types of psychopathology. Finally, besides neuroticism, the temperamental trait of behavioral inhibition appeared to play a unique direct role in the model predicting anxiety symptoms but not in the models predicting depressive symptoms or sleep difficulties. To conclude, the current findings seem to indicate that worry and rumination contribute to children’s vulnerability for anxiety and depression.     

Brooding and reflective rumination among suicide attempters: Cognitive vulnerability to suicidal ideation

Previous research suggests that the brooding subtype of rumination is associated with increased suicidal ideation, but findings are inconsistent with respect to reflection, considered to be the more adaptive form of rumination. This study investigated the circumstances under which reflective rumination might be associated with increased suicidal ideation by examining whether a suicide attempt history moderated the relationship between the ruminative subtypes and current suicidal ideation. Thirty-seven young adults who reported a past suicide attempt and fifty-nine young adults without a suicide attempt history completed measures of rumination and depression symptoms in an initial study session. They then completed a measure of suicidal ideation and hopelessness during a second study session. Overall, brooding was associated with higher self-reported suicidal ideation, whereas reflection was not significantly associated with ideation. However, reflection - but not brooding - interacted with suicide attempt history to statistically predict suicidal ideation, even after adjusting for symptoms of depression and hopelessness, whereas brooding no longer predicted ideation after adjusting for these symptoms. These findings qualify earlier suggestions that reflection is a more adaptive form of rumination by indicating that among vulnerable individuals - in particular those with a history of a suicide attempt - a higher degree of reflective rumination is associated with increased suicidal ideation.     

高中生沉思与应激性生活事件对抑郁症状的影响:1年追踪研究

探讨沉思及沉思亚型与应激性生活事件的交互作用对抑郁症状的影响。采用流调中心用抑郁量表、青少年生活事件问卷和沉思反应量表等自评量表对527名高中生的抑郁症状、应激性生活事件和沉思进行评估,随后每3个月测评一次抑郁症状和应激性生活事件的发生情况,追踪调查1年,用多层线性模型分析数据。结果表明:沉思和强迫性冥思对抑郁症状的主效应显著,而反思不显著;沉思、强迫性冥思和反思与生活事件对抑郁症状的交互作用均不显著。结论:应激性生活事件和强迫性冥思会加重抑郁症状,而反思没有加重抑郁症状;沉思及亚型均不会改变应激性生活事件对抑郁症状的影响程度。     

Ruminative subtypes and coping responses: Active and passive pathways to depressive symptoms

Individuals draw on a variety of cognitive strategies—some active, some passive—as a way of coping with stress and dysphoria. Previous research suggests that the impact of rumination—one such strategy—on depression depends on whether rumination takes the passive form of brooding versus the more active form of reflection. This study tests whether brooding and reflection explain the effects of passive versus active coping responses, respectively, on depressive symptoms. In an undergraduate sample (n=284), brooding partially mediated the relationship between passive coping and depressive symptoms, whereas reflection did not. Reflection moderated the relationship between active coping and symptoms, such that low active copers who were high in reflection endorsed more symptoms than those low in reflection. Brooding and reflection may operate within cognitive–behavioural response pathways characterised by an active/passive distinction. Whether reflection is maladaptive likely depends on the active nature of the surrounding coping response.     

Brooding rumination and attentional biases in currently non-depressed individuals: an eye-tracking study

Both rumination and attentional biases have been proposed as key components of the RDoC Negative Valence Systems construct of Loss. Although theorists have proposed that rumination, particularly brooding rumination, should be associated with increased sustained attention to depression-relevant information, it is not clear whether this link would be observed in a non-depressed sample or whether it is specific to brooding versus reflective rumination. To address these questions, the current study examined the link between brooding rumination and attentional biases in a sample of non-depressed individuals (n?=?105). Attentional biases were assessed using eye tracking during a passive viewing task in which participants were presented with 2?×?2 arrays of angry, happy, sad, and neutral faces. In line with predictions, higher levels of brooding rumination were associated with greater sustained attention to sad faces and less sustained attention to happy faces. These results remained significant after controlling for participants’ prior history of major depression and current nonclinical level of depressive symptoms, suggesting that the link between brooding rumination and attentional biases is at least partially independent of current or past depression.     

Role of anxiety and brooding in specificity of autobiographical recall

Overgeneral schemas and lack of autobiographical memory (AM) specificity about our past experiences can predict mood disturbance. Rumination, functional avoidance and executive processes are the main explanatory variables of such overgenerality. However, in non‐clinical samples, rumination predicts overgenerality most consistently after the induction of dysphoric mood. Anxiety also activates rumination. Furthermore, anxiety predicts memory performance and has effects on mood which are independent of the effects of rumination. So, what might be the role of anxiety in autobiographical memory performance? A sample of 210 voluntary participants reported measures of autobiographical memory, anxiety, rumination (brooding and reflection), functional avoidance and executive functions (semantic and phonetic verbal fluency task). Autobiographical performance (specificity) was negatively associated with brooding and age and positively with phonetic verbal fluency but not with functional avoidance and anxiety. However, anxiety and brooding were positively correlated even after controlling for depression scores. Moreover, using structural equation modeling, anxiety showed a significant indirect effect on autobiographical specificity through brooding rumination. These results suggest a possible association of anxiety with autobiographical recall through brooding rumination.     

The effects of rumination and negative cognitive styles on depression: a mediation analysis

Research on cognitive models of depression has identified negative cognitive styles and rumination as risk factors for depression. The present study examined the hypothesis that rumination mediates the effect of negative cognitive styles on depression. Specifically, we evaluated the differential effects of two aspects of rumination, characterized by brooding and reflection, on the relationship between negative cognitive styles and level of depressive symptoms. A total of 115 college students and 38 patients suffering from depressive disorders completed a battery of questionnaires measuring levels of depressive symptoms, brooding, reflection, and negative cognitive styles. The results support the notion that there exist two distinct dimensions of rumination and that, of the two, it is brooding and not reflection that mediates the relationship between negative cognitive styles and depression and contributes to its negative outcomes.     

Rumination in migraine: Mediating effects of brooding and reflection between migraine and psychological distress

Objective: The relationship between migraine and psychological distress has been consistently reported in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. We hypothesised that a stable tendency to perseverative thoughts such as rumination would mediate the relationship between migraine and psychological distress.

Design and Main Outcomes Measures: Self-report questionnaires measuring depressive rumination, current psychological distress and migraine symptoms in two independent European population cohorts, recruited from Budapest (N = 1139) and Manchester (N = 2004), were used. Structural regression analysis within structural equation modelling was applied to test the mediational role of brooding and reflection, the components of rumination, between migraine and psychological distress. Sex, age and lifetime depression were controlled for in the analysis.

Results: Migraine predicted higher brooding and reflection scores, and brooding proved to be a mediator between migraine and psychological distress in both samples, while reflection mediated the relationship significantly only in the Budapest sample.

Conclusions: Elevated psychological distress in migraine is partially attributed to ruminative response style. Further studies are needed to expand our findings to clinical samples and to examine how rumination links to the adjustment to migraine.     

Brooding Rumination and Risk for Depressive Disorders in Children of Depressed Mothers

The goal of the current study was to examine the role of brooding rumination in children at risk for depression. We found that children of mothers with a history of major depression exhibited higher levels of brooding rumination than did children of mothers with no depression history. Examining potential mechanisms of this risk, we found no evidence for shared genetic influences (BDNF or 5-HTTLPR) or modeling of mothers’ rumination. However, we did find that children with a history of prior depressive disorders exhibited higher current levels of brooding rumination than children with no depression history. Importantly, children’s brooding predicted prospective onsets of new depressive episodes over a 20-month follow-up even when we statistically controlled for depressive symptom levels at the initial assessment, suggesting that the predictive effect of brooding rumination in children was not due simply to co-occurring depressive symptoms.     

When thinking hurts: Attachment,rumination, and postrelationship adjustment

The current study used an attachment framework to explore postrelationship rumination and adjustment. Young adults (N= 231) involved in a romantic relationship that (a) was of 3 months duration or longer and (b) ended in the last 12 months participated in the study. The study assessed rumination generally (brooding, regret, and reflection), and specifically concerning the ended relationship (relationship preoccupation and romantic regret). At the general level, brooding and regret were associated with more negative adjustment, whereas reflection was associated with more positive adjustment. At the relationship level, both relationship preoccupation and romantic regret were associated with more negative adjustment. Models tested indicated that rumination largely mediated the association between attachment anxiety and adjustment.     

Associations between components of rumination and autobiographical memory specificity as measured by a Minimal Instructions Autobiographical Memory Test

Clinical studies have shown that rumination functions as a mediator between overgeneral memory—the tendency to retrieve autobiographical memories in a non-specific format—and depression. Recently, rumination has been dismantled into two distinct subcomponents: reflection, which is more adaptive, and brooding, which is more maladaptive. In the present study we examined the differential relationships of these two rumination subcomponents with autobiographical memory specificity and their mediational role for the relationship between reduced memory specificity and depression in a non-clinical sample. In addition, we investigated the usefulness of a “minimal instructions” version of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) to measure memory specificity in non-clinical populations. Results indicated that the use of minimal instructions can increase the AMT's sensitivity to detect reduced autobiographical memory specificity in non-clinical individuals. Further it was found that brooding, and not reflection, is significantly associated with reduced autobiographical memory specificity and functions as a mediator between reduced memory specificity and depression.     

Depressive Rumination and Co-Morbidity: Evidence for Brooding as a Transdiagnostic Process

A sample of 116 patients with unipolar mood disorders referred to a specialist research clinic were assessed to investigate (a) whether rumination is a transdiagnostic process that is related to co-morbid Axis I and II symptoms and diagnosis in depressed patients; (b) whether common findings in the depressive rumination literature could be replicated in a recurrent depressed sample. Consistent with the transdiagnostic hypothesis, rumination was positively associated with both depression and anxiety, brooding was related to co-morbid obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, and rumination was associated with traits associated with borderline personality disorder, most notably self-report of unstable relationships and inconsistent sense of self. As predicted, rumination was equivalent in currently depressed and formerly depressed patients, suggesting that rumination is not simply dependent on mood state or clinical status. As predicted, the brooding subtype most strongly correlated with depressed and anxious symptoms, consistent with previous observations that brooding is the more maladaptive form of rumination. As predicted, rumination was associated with reports of sexual abuse. Inconsistent with previous findings, there was no gender difference in rumination.     

Brooding and Reflection as Subtypes of Rumination: Evidence from Confirmatory Factor Analysis in Nonclinical Samples using the Dutch Ruminative Response Scale

Previous research has shown that depressive rumination is an important vulnerability factor for experiencing depressive symptoms. The most widely used measure to assess depressive rumination is the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). According to Treynor et al. (Cognitive Therapy and Research 27:247–259, 2003), the RRS contains two subscales, reflecting two different rumination subcomponents: brooding and reflection. The present study examined the psychometric properties of the RRS in two samples (N = 432 and N = 407). Based on a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), results confirmed that a two-dimensional model with brooding and reflection factors provided an adequate fit to the data. Reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the rumination subcomponents were appropriate. Furthermore, brooding but not reflection predicted depressive symptoms prospectively, even when accounting for concurrent depressive feelings. The results provide the first confirmatory factor-analytical support for the widely assumed two-factor model of the RRS and add to the accumulating body of evidence supporting the multidimensional nature of depressive rumination.     

Trait mindfulness and attention to emotional information: An eye tracking study

Biased attention for emotional information is associated with the emotional disorders. Trait mindfulness is associated with lower depression and anxiety and with improved attentional control. Mindfulness is also related to lower levels of brooding rumination. The current study examined the association between trait mindfulness, brooding rumination, depressed and anxious state moods, and attention to emotional visual stimuli utilizing eye tracking methodology. Participants were 158 undergraduates. Trait mindfulness was negatively associated with attention to sad and threatening stimuli, but was not associated with attention to positive or neutral stimuli. There was an indirect effect of mindfulness on attention to sad stimuli through brooding rumination. Data are cross sectional but provide initial evidence that mindfulness may partially exert its effects on depression and anxiety by lessening attention to negatively-valenced stimuli.     

Rumination and suicidal ideation: The moderating roles of hope and optimism

The current study aimed to investigate whether the correlation between rumination and suicidal ideation is moderated by the presence of hope and optimism. It was hypothesized that both hope and optimism would moderate (weaken) the relationship between rumination and suicidal ideation. Two hundred and ninety-eight participants completed self-report measures of hope, optimism, rumination (brooding and reflection), and depression. Results demonstrated that both hope and optimism weakened the relationship between rumination and suicidal ideation, as well as the relationships between both subscales of rumination and suicidal thinking. These results were found when controlling for symptoms of depression. Results suggest that a ruminative thinking style may be most harmful when an absence of hope or optimism is also present.     

A pathway from neuroticism to depression: examining the role of emotion regulation

We examined whether the relation between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms is mediated by emotion regulation. At the same time, we examined whether the type of emotion regulation strategy (maladaptive vs. adaptive) moderates the effects of neuroticism on depression severity. Community participants (N =?533; 235 women and 298 men) completed a set of questionnaires over the Internet. We used structural equation modeling to examine the mediational role of emotion regulation in linking neuroticism and the levels of depressive symptoms. The well-documented relation between neuroticism and depression is mediated by individual differences in the use of different emotion regulation strategies. More specifically, the use of maladaptive forms of emotion regulation, but not reappraisal, fully mediated the association between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms.     

Adaptive and maladaptive components of rumination? Diagnostic specificity and relation to depressive biases

The present study investigated the validity of the two-factor solution of items selected from the Rumination Scale of the Response Style Questionnaire proposed by Treynor, Gonzalez, and Nolen-Hoeksema (2003). In the first part of this study we used samples of currently depressed (MDD), formerly depressed (FD), socially anxious (SP), and healthy control participants to examine whether the brooding and reflective pondering components differentiate participants with an anxiety disorder from participants with depression. In the second part of this study we examined whether these components of rumination were differentially related to cognitive biases in depression. Overall, the MDD group exhibited higher brooding scores than did all other groups; SP and FD groups did not differ from each other but obtained higher brooding scores than did the control participants. Only the MDD and the control groups differed on the reflective pondering factor. Importantly, brooding and reflective pondering were differentially related to cognitive biases. Specifically, the correlation between brooding/reflective pondering and memory bias was not significant when depressive symptoms were partialed out. The correlation between brooding and attentional bias for sad faces, however, remained significant even when current depressive symptoms were taken into account. In sum, our results support the formulation that rumination is composed of an adaptive reflective pondering factor and a maladaptive brooding factor.